INTEL & COUNTERERRORISM DEPUTYS OFFER RESIGNATIONS
NYPD
commissioner Ray Kelly in his morning intelligence briefing in the Executive
Command Center
with Deputy Commissioner for Counterterrorism
Richard Daddario, center,
and Deputy
Commissioner of Intelligence David Cohen, left.
(Photo: Lucas Jackson/Reuters)
TAGS: NYPD RAY KELLY, DAVID COHEN, RICH DADDARIO
RESIGNATIONS,
NYPD
INTELLIGENCE DIVISION, COUNTERTERRORISM UNIT, PROTECTING NYC,
TERRORIST
THREATS, de BLASIO & BILL BRATTON, PRIORITIES
(Thursday December 19, 2013, Barclay
St., NYC) Just days after outgoing NYPD
Commissioner Ray Kelly inked a lucrative contract with the Greater Talent
Network to be a featured keynote speaker on the circuit two of his top Deputy
Commissioners submitted their letters of resignation to the incoming NYPD
Commish Bill Bratton. While this is not
an unusual rite of passage when a new administration is about to take control
of the City, the two men leaving will be very difficult to replace for several
reasons. The vacancies their
resignations will leave are in positions that had never before existed until
Ray Kelly created them when he took command of the NYPD just three months after
the terrorists’ attacks of September 11, 2001.
The question looms large now: how will Mayor – elect Bill de Blasio and Commissioner-in-waiting
Bratton approach filling those vacancies and will they maintain the operational
initiatives of two specialized Commands created by Commissioner Kelly. Mr.
Bratton should also be on the lookout for more resignations in the near future.
Shortly after assuming command
of the NYPD in January 2002, Ray Kelly realized that the events of 9-11-2001
required new and novel methods, strategies and tactics to address the real and
present dangers posed to NYC in the form of the terrorist’s threat. With the support of Mayor Bloomberg, Kelly
revamped totally reinvented the Intelligence Division that had been, up to that
time, concerned largely with gang activity, drug dealing and, in part “organized
crime”. Kelly’s vision became reality in
the present incarnation of the Intelligence Division and the Counterterrorism
Unit. He saw the glaring need to have his own intelligence gathering and Counterterrorism operations since it was painfully obvious that our federal
government’s intelligence apparatus was not just dysfunctional but truly
fatally flawed, negligent and not up to the task.
To direct his new Commands he wisely
hired David Cohen a 35 year CIA veteran to head the Intelligence Division and
named former federal prosecutor, Richard Daddario, to head up the
Counterterrorism Unit. The combined
talents of these men and some of those personnel they brought with them to
their new jobs literally wrote the first chapter in the new book of post
9-11-01 urban policing and police-based intelligence and Counterterrorism
policies and practices. Suffice to say,
despite their often controversial methods, both of these Commands have been
successful in collecting, analyzing and disseminating “real time” actionable
intelligence and have interrupted at least 13 terrorist plots. Much of the controversy surrounding the
operations of the Intel and Counterterrorism squads have been leveled by
Muslims and Islamic leaders living in New York City and in Jersey City just
across the Hudson River from Lower Manhattan.
The Muslim community felt they were being unfairly targeted and
“racially profiled” because the 19 men believed to have perpetrated the 9-11-01
attacks were Muslim.
Contrary to the complaints of
New York City’s Muslims, NYPD went through great efforts to assure their
operations were within the legal boundaries of all applicable law. Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence Cohen hired
another long time CIA veteran, Larry Sanchez, a former colleague that Cohen valued,
respected and trusted. Sanchez was officially
“on loan” from the CIA as per then CIA Director George Tenet. Sanchez remained an active CIA employee with
access to all the intelligence and resources that came with such employment. What these men and their personnel achieved is
now considered as the “Gold Standard”, the template other “big city” Police
Departments are trying hard to emulate.
CHANGING OF THE GUARD
For every Member of Service
(MOS) in the NYPD that will miss Ray Kelly there is an opposing MOS that is
happy to see him go. The ratio between these camps is surely not one to one but
it is difficult to determine what the majority opinion is. As in any highly
structured hierarchical organization of this size, the 40,000 or so MOS have
diverse and often conflicting opinions not only about who sits in the spacious
14th floor office in One Police Plaza (1PP) but also who the others
are occupying the upper echelon of the Department, Commands, Divisions, Units
as well as each and every Precinct.
Cops, generally speaking, loathe politics, politicians and any and every
public action taken by the highest ranking Brass is immediately scrutinized in
an effort to discern what the “real” message is coming out of 1PP. When the
rank and file believes and actually feels
that the Big Brass has their backs then the entire Department functions
more efficiently and effectively. It is
difficult to understate the importance of “morale” among the MOS. When the rank and file begins to feel under siege
by their own Department, the entire organization suffers as does the public
they are tasked with protecting and serving.
No one can deny Bill Bratton’s
right to exercise his executive prerogative; naturally as any CEO in any
organization, he needs to surround himself with like-minded, trusted advisers
and counselors; people that can play “devil’s advocate” without fear of
reprisal, speak truth to power even when doing so is difficult. That is the only way it should be and it is
even of more vital significance when we are discussing the largest, most
professional law enforcement agency in the country in the largest, most diverse
and densely populated City in America. Naturally
there were some MOS who reacted poorly, to say the least, when Bratton was
named the next Commissioner by Bill de Blasio.
Bratton is no stranger to this City or the NYPD but, for all his history
here he will forever be an ‘outsider” and, not just any outsider; Bratton is
from Boston. NYPD is a legacy agency,
deeply rooted in its own history and traditions; they like to see one of their
own rise up through the ranks. But, the
Mayor-elect has made his decision and that is that.
NO POLITICS, JUST OPERATIONS
There are those who view this
particular discussion as inappropriately “political”. We are of a contrary view. These issues affect not just all MOS of NYPD
but everyone who lives here, works here, travels through here and visits
here. How well the “Vital Services” of
NYC (FDNY, the Department of Sanitation, the Metropolitan Transit Authority, and
the Office of Emergency Management) just to name the most visible, function is as
important to the City as is the heart to the human body. Sound and strong leadership is essential to
each Department and Agency to keep our City running smoothly.
In the post 9-11 City there
was much to change and much has been changed.
It is common knowledge that we, New York City, remain the most “target
rich environment” in the eyes of terrorists around the world. Just because we have not been successfully
attacked since September 2001 certainly is no indication or proof that we are
not still in the crosshairs of terrorists of every ilk from every corner of the
earth. The public will likely never
learn precisely how effective Kelly, Cohen and Daddario have been individually
in their respective positions as well as a tripartite collective working with
all gears meshing quietly.
WHO’S WATCHING WHO…?
It would be naïve for anyone
to think that we are not about to enter into a more vulnerable time. The changing of the guard, the transition
from the stability of 12 years of Bloomberg and Kelly into the new days of a
novice Administration is no doubt being followed by some terrorist organization
or cell or, perhaps, just a few zealots somewhere with designs on making their
bloody mark on our City. As we have all
learned so painfully, so awfully vividly, we have been and remain a high value
target. We can only hope that the new team about to assume control in a few
weeks has the same priorities regarding our safety and security as did the outgoing
Administration.
Let all of us hope that the
torches that will pass from the Bloomberg Era to the de Blasio Administration are
deftly handled and that real continuity and focus is upheld by all those now
entrusted to govern and protect our City.
Copyright
The Brooding Cynyx 2013 © All Rights Reserved
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